No Junk Food In School Canteens – Maharashtra Government
Junk food has always been a concerned topic of discussion when it comes to the children. As already known, consuming fattening junk food is an addiction to the children and this addiction leads to many complications. This includes obesity, chronic illness, low self esteem and sometimes even depression. These afftect the studnets’s educational as well as extra curricular performances.
Maharashtra government has taken an initiative in order to save the health of kids in school. The government has banned junk food in the school canteens especially not to sell food `High in Fat, Salt and Sugar’ (HFSS). Alternatives for the junk food include chapatis, rice, vegetables and pulses, rajma, wheat upma, khichdi, payasam, idli and vada sambar, coconut water, lemonade and jaljeera.
“HFSS food has very little vitamins and minerals… (Their consumption raises the chance of obesity) and other related diseases among children. The effects can be seen on a child’s academic performance,” says the Education Department’s Government Resolution (GR). Though the state-affiliated schools with canteens are less, but the decision also targets the vendors who sell packed food in the school during breaks.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has formed a committee that works under the Director of National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. The issue was given importance in December 2014 and CBSE schools were the first to implement the MWCD’s report.
The report also asks schools to bring out health importance and eating habits as a crucial point of awareness for the students. They are requested to take help from the professionals or internet. CBSE has suggested the School Canteen Management Committee, teachers, parents and student to help implementing the guidelines.
“There was always the science to show that HFSS food had negative health effects on children, and so we should have realized the need for a policy decision two or three years ago,“ said Dr Jagmeet Madan, VP , Indian Dietetic Association.“Nevertheless, it is a welcome step and the least we can do is to minimize the availability of such food to children.”
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